the one with junpei;

[oraculi]

someday i'll put gifs or something here but not right now!!

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week 2, post trial

[oraculi]

You've got a job around here. A role, whatever.

[He says it the second they're in private. Sorry if you're having emotions, Junpei! Sorry you hit a girl with a stick seconds before she was declared guilty! Put that shit away! It's time to talk now.]

I'm not asking. I'm confirming it.

[crashout]

[IT'S FINE EMOTIONS ARE FOR CHUMPS. Though he gives Haymitch a cursory glance before he shrugs.]

What's your basis of confirmation?

[oraculi]

"I do have information from a good source that Aizawa and Logy were both carriers at one point".

[That's a pretty remarkable memory there, buddy, but he pays more attention than people think.]

You'd say the source if you could, but you can't. Right? Not unless someone already guesses.

[crashout]

Oh. That. [Now he just...kind of looks embarrassed?] It's more like I wasn't gonna out the guy who slept with both of them because it didn't seem like a good time and place. A few of us were tracking the pattern of the demons last week before the news broke.

[Though, he tilts his head.] Interesting that you've heard about these roles though. I've been hearing a lot about them lately.

[oraculi]

[W E L P

That's actually a lot less candid than he assumed Junpei would be, and he raises an eyebrow.]

You're really still gonna worry about modesty here and now?

[JUST SAYING, fucking out everyone at this point.]

[crashout]

I've got a personal investment in this one. It's not about modesty, it's about where the demon itself went.

[But anyway, now there's a new topic he needs to follow through on.] You approached me assuming I had a role because you know other people who do. Not asking, confirming.

[...where else would Haymitch have heard?]

[oraculi]

. . . yeah.

[He isn't exactly reluctant to tell Junpei, but rather wary. This is a dicey game right now, and trusting the wrong person or saying too much could get someone killed.]

[crashout]

[A very, very dicey game, and it's why he pauses to consider his words.]

Judging by the way you framed it, I'd say that person is you. Or Katy. But given the way you framed it and knowing the rules about it, and also knowing that you know as well as I do that confronting the wrong person is a very risky move in a game like this, I'm going to say it's you. Confirming again, not asking.

[oraculi]

[Another pause.]

Yeah. You got that one right.

[Ugh. This backfired. Oh, well. It's Junpei, and it's not like he's immune, but . . . he's another Victor, or at least close. That counts for something.]

[crashout]

[...he lifts both eyebrows before there's a slow nod.]

So did you. [Hey Haymitch. Congratulations, you weren't wrong.] Sorry, things have to be done this way now that people are starting to learn about them.

[You want to trust everyone, but it's always safer to keep a distance anyway.]

[oraculi]

[There's a moment's pause, and then he barks out a laugh.]

We're real good at this, aren't we?

[On the heels of that last trial, it's sort of a tongue in cheek statement.]

So I guess we can guess what the other can do, yeah?

[crashout]

I don't think either of us would've gotten this far in life without a little caution. [There's a smirk that isn't quite amused, but it's still a little more relaxed. It helps that it's Haymitch and that Junpei likes him enough, but that trial definitely had his head spinning. As it is, he shrugs with both hands up this time.]

I've been playing twenty questions with the people I've been confronting and nothing bad's happened so far. Seems to be in everybody's rules and stuff. It might help to know exactly where we're standing here.

[oraculi]

Yeah.

So let's start like this: your role involves getting to know what people are up to in some kinda way.

[crashout]

More or less. [He's thinking over the base questions he could be asking here.] Yours is targeted toward an individual instead of the group at large.

[oraculi]

More or less.

[For once-- for once!-- he's not being a dick and parroting shit back. Just being extremely cautious. He honestly is more worried about their dear kidnappers than Junpei, though.]

Yours targets an individual.

[crashout]

Yes. [Given that he's already been warned that if they skirt the rules and break them there's nothing to protect them, caution's a great idea right now.] Yours can help or hurt an individual.

[oraculi]

[He hesitates, but--]

Yeah. Yours involves location.

[crashout]

[That one gets him to stop because he has to really think about it.]

Nope. [Though location gives him an idea.] You can make a person more or less vulnerable on Thursday nights to protect them from the demons, or to swap them out for another victim. Like a trade.

[oraculi]

No.

[God, he wishes.]

Yours involves something to do with keeping them alive, but not hurting them.

[crashout]

I don't actually know. [Which is funny to say, but.] Let's say "not exactly" on that for now.

Yours...involves sending anonymous messages or gifts?

[oraculi]

[Hm.]

Nope.

You know, I didn't actually set out to solve another mystery today. [Wry.] Yours involves getting to see who slept with who.

[crashout]

[There's a light laugh.]

No, that's just an unfortunate perk of talking to as many people as I do. [He runs a hand through his hair.] This questioning thing is a lot harder when we're starting from ground zero.

[Hm...] So. Something that can target one person, it can help or hurt them, and it doesn't involve items or notes.

...yours is different than anything you've ever done before.

[oraculi]

No. Not quite. I've done it in one part of my life, but just the once.

[Hmm. Getting to know what people are up to, targets an individual, doesn't know if it helps keep them alive . . . am I writing this for my sake, yes.]

Yours involves knowing who talked to who.

[crashout]

[He shakes his head.] Still just a part of me being...me, I guess. But it can help to know that part.

[One part of his life was something similar, it can help or hurt one person...admittedly he doesn't know as much about Haymitch as he wants, but. He ponders.]

Yours involves potentially mercy-killing someone. [A shot in the dark? Yes.]

[oraculi]

Nope.

[Not even close, if the way he says it is any indication.]

Yours helps you first and foremost.